Freedom!

On the occasion of the Indian Independence Day, I decided to post some links to videos and other resources which you might find interesting. I freely admit that ‘lists’ are always controversial, so I’ll be happy to have “You should have included this!” comments, as long as you link to some resource on what you are talking about. :) I’m sure that way we all will be able to learn a bit more about India.

Rabindranath Tagore singing the national anthem: An extremely rare recording of the author himself singing the national anthem. BTW, Tagore trivia – he is also the author of another nation’s anthem. Quite unsurprisingly, the country happens to be Bangladesh. (The name of the anthem is Amar Shonar Bangla.)

Why Gandhi didn’t win the Nobel Prize: In hindsight, the Nobel Prize committee regrets the fact that Gandhi was never given the Nobel Peace Prize, despite being nominated. Read this extensive (and frank) article on the Nobel Prize site on what went on behind the scenes which ultimately led to Gandhi not getting the prize.

Mohammad Ali Jinnah speaking on the need for Pakistan: Skip Star-Spangled Banner and move on straight to the audio bit on Jinnah speaking on the need for Pakistan. Like it or not, the Partition is part of Indian subcontinent history. Jinnah, BTW, was initially part of the Indian National Congress. He worked with INC for a long time, and then left to join the Muslim League. Accounts differ on why he did so, but almost everyone agrees that he had a fallout with Gandhi. Being a lawyer, Jinnah was a stickler for rules and did not agree to Gandhi’s tactic of flouting the law during the Non-Cooperation Movement.